F1 extends Snapchat partnership

The Formula One motor-racing series has agreed a two-season extension to its global partnership with social media platform Snapchat.

The new deal with Snapchat’s parent company Snap Inc. covers the 2018 and 2019 seasons and builds on an initial partnership which commenced in July.

Formula One said the partnership has been extended and enhanced following the success of last season, which saw millions of Snapchatters – almost 90 per cent of which were under the age of 35 and over 50 per cent of which were female – take in F1 action on Snapchat.

The new agreement increases Snapchat’s coverage of grand prix events from seven in 2017 to double-digits in 2018 and beyond. Snapchatters will be able to watch exclusive Our Stories on Snapchat Discover beginning with the 2018 season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 25.

On each race day, Snapchat’s in-house production team will curate public Snaps posted by drivers, teams, journalists, fans at the track and at home and add HD quality race footage.

Frank Arthofer, head of digital and new business at Formula One, said: “While the 2017 agreement was the first step towards expanding social platform presence, our multiyear renewal is a sign of the strengthening and speeding-up of the development of this strategy.

“We want to work with partners that operate on a global level to bring Formula One and its amazing mix of technology and individual talent ever closer to our fan base, especially 'millennials'. We are really pleased to have extended this agreement for a further two years and to increase the number of races that will feature in the Our Stories content on the Discover platform.”

The original deal with Snapchat represented Formula One’s first commercial collaboration with a major digital and mobile-first platform. Former F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone was famously averse to the merits of digital and social media.